Hoisting apparatus for mines



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.5.

T. POORE.

` HOISTING APPARATUS FOR MINES.

No. 359,517. Patented Mar. 15, 1887.

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N. FETERS. Prwmuum m. Wash No Model.) i 2`sheets .sneet 2. T. PO'ORE.

HOISTING APPARATUS -POR MINES.

Patented Mar. 15, 1887. 97

%Massey tower and part of the Operating-engine, the

view of a frame used in a pit at the bottom of the mine-shaft, a cage with an adjustable tail- 'side of the tower and portions of the holding UNITED STATES PATENT Ornela TOWNSEND POORE, or SCRANTON, PENNsYLvAniA.

HOSTING APPARATUS FOR MINES.

SPECIFICATION formng part of Letters Pateit No. 359.517, dated March 15, 1887.

Application filed April 19, 1880.

To all whom 't may concrn:

Be it known that I, TOW'NSEND PooRE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvenents in Hoisting Apparatus for Deep-Mining Shafts; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled 'in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to hoisting nachinery for deep-nining shafts; and it consists in certain novel constructions, arrangements,'a11d combinations of parts in a double hoisting apparatus or plant for niine-shafts, as will be hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims, whereby the operation of such Inachinery or double hoisting plant for nineshafts is improved, greater safety and convenience Secured, and such niaohinery or double hoisting plant is adapted for hoisting coal or other substances far above the plane on which the engines are placed, andthe tail-rope is firmly held and steadied by a pit or surnp' sheave, and the greatdriving friction required is produced by two hoisting sheaves, as will be hereinafter explained.

In the acconpanying drawings, Figure `1 is a View, partly in elevation, partlyin' section, of a shaft-tower and mineshaft, illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line x x in Fg. 1, looking downward, showing aportion of the apparatus. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the rope-clamps of the rope-brake. Fig. 4- is a detail sectional rope being shown in elevation. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line y y in Fig. 1, looking downward and showing a portion of the operating-engine. Fig. 6 is a View, partly in section and partly in elevation, of the rear mechanism in relation to a cage at the upper landing. Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the main portion of the said engine being cut away beyond the line z e of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a detail side view of a portion of the tower, a cage, and the cage-holding mechanism. Fig. 9 is a View of the cage shown in Fig. 8, a por- .suitable nanner.

Serial Ilo, 199305. '(No model.)

tion of the tower-i'rane, and the upper portion of the cage-holding mechanisn, as they appear standing at a right angle to Fg. S. Fig. 10 is a diagram of the driving-sheaves, the reversing-lever of the Operating-engine, the upper portions of two indicating-pointers for the rope, and two indicators for the' reversinglever; and Eig. ll is a top View of the same.

A in the drawings represents a tower suitable for hoisting coal out of a mine-shalt. B is a nine-shaft, C a reversible stezunengine, D a tension apparatus, and E a brake.

The tower A is placed over the mine-shaft B, and is provided with two skeleton or open hoistways, a a', within which two cages, F F are alternately hoisted and lowcred. Said cages are Suspended froni the two ends of an operating-rope, G, which runs over two headsheaves, 1-1', suitably arranged on the top of the tower and, in central positions over the hoistways a a'.

The cages F F are provided, respectively, with lugs f, arranged right and left of ver tical guide-bars F', fastened to the inner sides A of the hoistways, and continued through the whole length of the mine-shaft B, to the sides of which latter they are to be secured in a At the bottom of the mineshaft, and below the lower landing point (6 of the cages, a pit, B', is formed, which contains a strong and well-fastened frame, A', of suitable construction, to which fraine a sheave, H, is

securely hung. Stretched around this sheave H is a tail-rope G', which connects the two cages F F from below by means of adjusting devices gg', such as shown, or their equivalents--an ordinary turn-buckle and two sections of a screw-rod. By turning the screw g' of the adjus'ting device, so as to shorten or lengthen the connection, the two cages F F are brought nearer together or moved farther apart, and thus the positions of the cages in relation to their lower and upper landings, (6 a can be very accurately adj usted. The main or hoisting rope G, to the two ends of which the eages are attached, runs up over the guidesheaves H', down again over two drvingsheaves, H, on the main shaft c of the re- Versible steam'-engine C, and, finally, over a tightening-sheave, H Thistightening-sheave is hung diagonally with respect to the driving-sheaves H 'in a sliding frame, I, of suit-.

ICO

able construetion, in order that the rope G may pass properly upon it as said rope rises froni under one of said drivingsheaves and descends under the other, as shown in Fig. 5. Thesaid fraine I slides up and down between guides 'i of a frame, J', fastened in a suitable manner to the tower A and a portion, a of its base. To the top of this sliding frae I, at t a rope, i', is fastened, which is passed over a small grcoved sheave, i suitably hung in the auxiliary frame J,and provided with a tightening-weight, 1', by which the sliding frame I is pullcd up and the rope G- is kept tight around the shea'vcs H and is prevented from slipping on the same. Beneath the sheaves H the brake E is arrangcd, so that its brakeshoes are in line with the rope G, and are united by a transverse rod, lt', which latter is supported upon the short lover-arin e of a rocking frame, e', having its fulcrum at e and cxtending toward the tower, but ont of range of the weight 1 Upon 'the end portion, e, of the longer lever-arn of the rocking frame of the brake a weight, e is placed, which is sufficiently heavy to cause the brake-shoes 71 to stop the rope G and the sheave H whenever the end portion, a, is deprived of its support. This support consists of a prop, t made tripahle by means of a chain, i stretched between the prop and the tower A.

If the main rope G should break, the sliding frame I would be pulled up and the weight I' would drop down upon the chain t thcreby pulling the prop i away from under the brake E, causing the weight e* to fall, and th us checking the motion of the sheaves H and rope G and clamping the latter in position.

In order to enable the engineer to quickly stop the apparatus in case of an emergency, a chain, is fastencd to the prop i" and con nectcd with a windlass, i within easy reach of the engineer, who thns, with a short turn of the windlass, can trip the prop i suddenly and thereby effectually check the rope and engine.

The lower landings, of the mine-shaft are at the same level with the lowest work ings, but the cagcs, on arriving there, do not set-tle down upon a solid support, as in some old constructions, but remain Suspended by the rope G, and are held by means of fans or supports K and a stopping mechanism, L, attached to the tower and swung out below and above the discharging-landing a* of the upper cage, as shown. The fans or supports K are of ordinary Construction, consisting of two transvcrse swinging leaves, k, having fnlcrums 75' at opposite sides of their respective hoistways, their upper terninations, k being level with the lower snrfaces, f', of the' cages F, so that a cage resting upon the said fans is in line with the landing-point, a as seen in Figs. 1 and S.

In order to permit the cage to descend into the shaft, the fans or supports are swungaway froni the cage by means of the links 75, which are pivoted to the upper portions, k of the fans or supports, and to a pin, k of a sliding sleeve, k fitted loosely to an upright central rod, 752 fastened suitably to a cross-beam, a of the tower. A handlever, k having ful crum k on the tower, is connected with the fans or supports by the pin k* of sleeve k and a link, k as shown, and thus, by raising the free end ot' the said hand-lever, the fans or supports can be moved in and out of range of the cage,and as the fulcrums k' are out of range of the cage they do not interfere with its free ascent and descet. As soon as the cage arrivcs at the top landing the fans or supports are moved by lever k into range with the cage, which is now stopped in its further upward progress bythe engineer shutting oti' the steam of the engine. At this stage this cage, having a loaded car, settles back on the fans or supports, whercupon the attendant operates the stopping mechanism L in a manner to prevent the cage froni rising again. This stopping mcehanisin L consists ot' two seetors, Z, fastened to a horizontal shaft, Z', and suitably hung to the tower, the lower end portions of said seetors being, by means of ordinary links, connected with lever-arms Z on a shaft, P. The shaft Z* is snitably hung to the tower, and is provided with a lever handle, P, by means of which the seetors Z are swung in and. ont of range of the cage, the letter position being indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 9.

While the seetors Z remain over the platform f of the cage, as seen in Fig. 9, the cars .are

removed, to wit: the upper loaded car is to be taken away and dumped and returned, and the lower empty ear to be exchanged for a loaded car. As the loaded ear is removed from the upper cage, and the empty car in the lower cage is replaced by a loaded car, the weight of the lower cage overbalances the weight of the upper cage, and moves the upper cage slightly above the upper landing against the seetors l, thereby relieving the fans or supports K, which is the signal for the attendant to open the fans or supports previous to the lowering of the upper ,cage with the empty car.

As the cage F is lowered from the upper platform the seetors Z of the stopping mechanism are swung away out of its range, and the attendant passes to the other side of the landing to repeat the operation just described with the other cage on its ascent. In case the ascent of the cage cannot be stopped immedately at the proper elevation desired, the upper portion of the cage will come in contact with a lover-arm, M, pivoted at m to the tower and connected by means of a ehain, m', with the chain i of the prop and with a suitable supplemental throttlevalvc, (not shown,) and the arm M, being pushed up by the cage, Will cause the ehain m' to pull the clain i* and draw away the prop from the brake E, and shut off the steam by means of said throttlcvalve, whereby the hoisting apparatus is IIO ITO

stopped. The supplemental throttle-valve should be placedin the most convenient position between the engines and boilers.

In order to assist the engineer in stopping the engine at the proper time, the rope G is marked at two eorresponding places with paint of a distinct -color, one ot" which marks is shown at g in the diagrams, Figs. 10 and 11; and two pointers, 0 are suitably fasteued to the floor or ground, pointing to the rope on the sheaves H". NVhen one or the other of said paint-marks 9 arrives opposite one of the pointers 9 the engineer stops the engine.

In order to prevent mistakes, I provide right and left of the reversing-lever N, on the floor, as seen in Figs. 10 and 11, two distinct paint or other marks na', the nark n being near the forward end and the mark n' near the rear end of the rack of the reversing-lever. When one of the'paint-marks g of the rope G appears at the right side of the reversing-lever, the right mark, n, indicates that the steaniengine must be started backward, and when the other paint mark, 9 appears at the left side of the reversing-lever the left'mark, n', indicates that the steam engine must be started forward. The cages will, in practice, be provided with the usual safety-catches, such as are to be used in compliance with law.

The advantages of my invention over the old systems are: The crank-shaft of the steaniengine can be made much shorter When provided with sheaves than when provded with the old ropedrums, and the steam-engine will occupy less room laterally and .require less masonry to support it. Perfect balance of rope, cages, and cars is secured, 'the steam-engine having only the Weight of the coal to lift, and, consequently, a smaller engine and less fuel will be required for a given duty than is with 'the old system. As the bottom cage, when it receives the loaded car for hoisting, is notlandcch but hangs on the rope, thereis no slack above it, so it is started without the jerk which occurs with .some of the oldsystems, where there' is necessarily a large amount of slack above the cage before it is started. As the upper cage is lifted from the fans or supports-by running the loaded car on the lower cage, and so brought against the upper stops,

r where it is held, the engineer has simplyto upper and hoist'the lower cage.

start his engine one way, which hoists the lower cage'and drops the upper away from the steps above it. In the old method the engineer 'must first' start his engine one way to pick the upper cage 'from the fans or supports, and then reverse his engine to lower the Thus it Will be seen that by my system one reversal of the engine is avoided,.which of course lessens the danger of mistakes and also the labor of 'the engineer. The hoisting-'rope in my invention, being wound over the driving-sheaves in an invariable straight line, is much less exposed to wear than in the old constructions, wherein it is'woundand unwound spirally on a drum.

The first cost of a hoisting-plant is greatly reduced by myinvention, so much so that a 'plant of my improved Construction, worth seven thousand dollars, would cost twentyfour thousand dollarsif constructed on the old plan.

Prior to my invention, apparatus for use at collier'ies have employed a drum, sheaves, ropes, and a tension nechanism, arranged on nearly a horizontal plane, for moving leads; but I am not aware that this combination of parts has ever been adapted for use with towers and cages for operation in deepmine sha fts, as I'have shown.

hat I claim is r 1. In a double hoisting apparatus or plant for mine-shal'ts, the conbnation `of an endless hoisting-rope, G, two cages, F F -two hoisting-sheaves, H a tailrope, G', apit or sump sheave, H, and the tighteningsheave H substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of the hoisting-cages F F", ropes G G and upper stopping mechanism, L, whereby the cages F F are prevented from incidentally rnoving too far from their `respective landings after the upper cage is unloaded and before the engine is started, substantially as described. p

3. In a hoisting apparatus for mine-shafts,

the combination of the cages F F a suitable hoistng-rope, upper stopping nechanisn, L,

and fans or supports K, whereby the cages are held opposite their respective laudings during stoppage for loading and unloading, substantially'as described.

4. In the described hoisting apparatus, the tail-rope G', 'having au adjusting-screw, g, in combination with the cages F F hoisting-rope G, and tightening-sheave H, substantially as and 'for the purpose set forth.

5. 'In the described hoisting apparatus, the combination of the sliding frane I, having sheave H and weight 1', steamengine G, havingsheaves H H and ropes G G', substantially as and 'for the purpose described.

6. The combinalion of the rope-tightening weight l pro p-chain ti prep i and breke E, substantiall y as and for the purpose described.

7. The brake E, having brake-shoes hh for clamping the hoisting-rope G, in 'combination with the prop '5 driving-sheaves H, and said hoisting-rope G, substantially as and for the *combination of the windlass ti", chain i, prop i", and brake E, substantially as and for the purpose described.

10. The pivoted brake E, applicd beneath and in combination with the endless rope G G' and driving-sheaves H H' and with means, substantially as described, for Operating said ICO 13. The combination of the tower A, having hoistways a a', the tension-hame J, having 15 tension mechanism D, &suitable h0istingrope,` and suitable driving and head sheaves, substantially as and. for the purpose described.

In testinony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

TOWN SEND POORE.

Witnesses:

D. DAVIS, WALTER M. DICKSON. 

